Nuggets & NBA

Nuggets drop an other close one

SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge had largely carried the Spurs offensively while methodically carving up the Nuggets' depleted frontcourt.

But with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, the Spurs turned to the long ball.

Manu Ginolbi and Patty Mills drilled back-to-back 3-pointers with less than three minutes to play to help the Spurs hold off the Nuggets 106-104 Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.

The narrow loss was Denver's second in as many nights to two of the NBA's best teams, following a 111-110 home defeat against Boston. And it was the second night in a row that the ball found Will Barton's hands with the chance to steal a win in the final seconds. After Jamal Murray drilled a 3-pointer to slice San Antonio's lead to 106-104 with 31.6 seconds to play and Denver got a defensive stop, Barton's 3-pointer from the top of the key rattled out just before the buzzer.

The Nuggets entered Tuesday in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, a half-game up on a Clippers team that hosted seventh-seeded Portland the night after agreeing to trade star Blake Griffin to Detroit.

The contest came down to a tightly contested final quarter. Both teams traded baskets while many starters rested for the stretch run. But San Antonio moved ahead for good with 5:54 to play, when Danny Green converted an alley-oop layup and Alrdidge followed with a shot over Nikola Jokic. After a dunk by Torrey Craig reduced that advantage to 98-97 with less than three minutes to play, Ginobli and Mills unleashed their 3-pointers.

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Denver charged ahead in the third quarter, outscoring the Spurs 26-20 in the period and leading by as many as seven points. Murray was again the catalyst, scoring 10 of his 18 in the period, including a pull-up jumper that gave Denver a 79-72 lead late in the frame.

The Nuggets kept up with the Spurs largely thanks to their offense, which got free beyond the arc (10-of-23) against a San Antonio team that entered Tuesday ranked second in the NBA in defensive efficiency at 100.9 points per 100 possessions and sixth in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (34.8).

Alrdridge led all scorers with 30 points on 14-of-23 shooting, taking advantage of a Denver frontcourt that was missing defensive anchor Mason Plumlee. Sparingly used veteran Darrell Arthur got his first start of the season in Plumlee's place, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 of shooting but also drawing Alrdridge as his primary defensive assignment.

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